Curried Chickpeas

Hurray for Curry! I love all the spices and flavors that are used in Indian cooking. I'm fairly new to preparing it at home, but have tried a few dishes. This is one of my favorites. I will be making it for our monthly carry in at church. This month's theme is international.

The original recipe was found at allrecipes. It is also called Cholay. This is my version of it.

Curried Chickpeas
1 pound dry chickpeas (or substitute 2 cans)
1 tea bag
1 bay leaf
2 TB vegetable oil, divided
1 sliced onion
1 onion finely chopped
1 tsp grated garlic
1 tsp grated ginger
1 can diced tomatoes (or three fresh)
1/4 c fresh cilantro leaves chopped
curry powder to taste (couple tablespoons?)
salt and cayenne pepper to taste

Cover chickpeas with about 8 cups of water. Soak overnight. Drain. Add fresh water to cover, tea bag, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Cook until beans are tender, but not mushy (about 45 minutes.) Discard tea bag and bay leaf. Drain beans, reserving the water.

Heat 2 tsp oil in a skillet and saute sliced onion until tender. Cool and mix with 1/2 cup of the beans, 1/3 of the tomatoes, and 1/2 the cilantro. Set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in the skillet. Cook ginger and garlic about 30 seconds. Add chopped onion and cook until tender. Add curry powder, salt and pepper, and remaining tomatoes. Bring to a boil and cook about five minutes. Stir in the remaining beans, sliced onion mixture and enough of the reserved water to make a gravy-like consistency. Cook about 5 minutes, stirring. Taste and add spice if desired. Garnish with remaining cilantro.

I love this with the Indian flat bread, but normally just serve it over rice, and call it a meal. Yum! And yes, the whole family does enjoy this one.


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